1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a new practice batting or hitting device. More particularly, the invention relates to a baseball or softball practice hitting device that avoids the necessity of retrieving the ball after the practice swing.
Specifically, the invention provides a new type of baseball and softball practice hitting device that is ideal for use in training young ball players in that it avoids the necessity of retrieving the ball after the practice swing and can be made adjustable to fit all ages of player. The new practice hitting device broadly comprises in combination a planar base adapted to being secured to a solid surface, a vertical pedistal the height of which is that needed to hold a baseball or softball at the top thereof for ball practice, said pedistal comprising an elongated flexible first member having a specially prepared molded baseball or softball fixedly attached to the terminal end thereof and the other end being telescopically inserted into a second elongated rigid tubular member, a safety lock means at the end of the first member to prevent it from being removed from the top of the second member, adjustable locking means on the first and second members adapted to secure the first member at the desired hitting height, and a coil spring the top end of which is fixedly attached to the bottom of the second member and the bottom end being fixedly attached by bolt means to the planar base.
2. Prior Art
In the game of baseball, one of the most difficult skills to master is hitting. First, a hitter must be able to coordinate the swing of a bat with the location of a ball so that good contact with the ball can be made while swinging the bat. Once this is mastered, the hitter must next learn to make good contact with the ball at the various positions at which it may cross home plate, from an inside pitch to an outside pitch, and from a high pitch to a low pitch, and various combinations of these two variables.
In development of these skills, the trainer or coach uses a baseball tee to support a ball at a selected height above a representation of the baseball home plate. The player then hits the ball out to the field, the ball is retrieved and placed on the tee for another swing. In this manner, the player can practice swinging and improve the coordination of his hands and eyes and develop his wrist and arm muscles.
Various practice batting tees have been developed in the past for this purpose. The practice tees developed to date, however, have had various limitations which have discouraged their overall acceptance in the baseball world.
In most cases, the ball is positioned on the tee and hit out into the field. This requires someone to retrieve the ball for the next hit. This has become very tiring work and discouraging to some players. In other cases, the tees have not been adjustable and different tees must be used for different hitting zones. In other cases the tees have been partially adjustable, but not able to cover all the hitting zones. In some cases, the tees have been adjustable, but the adjustment has required considerable time and manipulation to obtain a tee in the desired position In other cases, the tees have been very expensive to produce, and the cost has been prohibitive for many of the smaller teams.
Following are examples of the prior art which disclose many of the tees having the above-noted limitations. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,383,686, 4,277,691, 4,516,771, 2,862,712, 4,508,340, 3,877,695, 2,616,692 and 3,489,411.
The following patents disclose practice hitting devices wherein the ball is attached to a string and can be hit again when the string stops swinging or is retrieved: U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,050,694, 3,885,790, 3,716,235, 3,623,725. U.S. Pat. No. 3,794,320 discloses a device wherein the ball is attached to an arm which rotates 90 degres, but is unable to be adjusted to various types of pitches.
French patent No. 505,980 discloses a punching bag device wherein the punching bag is fixedly attached to an upright pedistal. While this is satisfactory for the strikes of a fist, it is entirely unable to withstand the powerful strike of a baseball bat and is snapped after the first strikes.
My U.S. Pat. No. 4,681,318 discloses an improved practice batting tee having a special ball joint at the bottom of the pedistal which sometimes adds control problems. In addition, it has been found that after periods of use the ball as shown in that patent is torn off, and/or the vertical pedistal is snapped off. As a result, such defects have limited the use of such baseball tees.
It is an object of the invention, therefore, to provide a new practice hitting device for baseball and softball which corrects many of the above-described limitations. It is a further object to provide a practice hitting device which avoids the necessity of retrieving the ball after being hit. It is a further object to provide an adjustable practice hitting device which can be adjusted according to the height of the batter. It is a further object to provide a new adjustable hitting device which can be produced at low cost and can be made available to all softball and baseball teams. It is a further object to provide a new practice hitting device that can be used indoors as well as outdoors. These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description thereof.